Capt Nemo grows a beard and seeks wisdom. But mostly just gets lost and slaps his forehead a lot

Finding Nemo

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Fuji-San

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What a few lucky people (not me) see when the clouds peel back

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﻿﻿So its Sunday and I'm in a really beautiful noodle restaurant, looking up at enormous Mt Fuji blanketed in snow and hazy clouds. Kawaguchi-ko is such a nice little town, nestled under Mt Fuji by a pretty lake. Mt Fuji is so.... big and up-close. I didn't know what to expect exactly, but it is a presence. Maybe its because there is nothing blocking the view, or that it rises so dramatically right in front of you. The large winter snow-cap adds the finishing touch.

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Beautiful noodle restaurant in Kawaguchi-ko

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Sunlight is streaming in the windows. Classical Japanese music is playing. I'm sitting here on a tatami mat, in my socks, feeling like I'm in some kind of living Japanese waterpainting. That "Traveler's Zen" has finally arrived, like an old friend. It is a happy feeling.

﻿ I stare down at my huge steaming bowl of "sumo-training"seafood hoto. (I guess hoto is a type of stew.) There are big shrimps, squid, veggies, little bird eggs, pumpkin, gobs of fat noodles, sausage ball things, whole shitake mushrooms, potatos, and god knows what else in this cauldron. I have zero chance of putting much dent in it, but I'm really enjoying the idea of chowing sumo-style!

2 comments:

Did you make it to the ice caves on Mt. Fuji? And have you tried the Japanese baths yet? You know, the ones where you shower before you go into the bath and they have a sequence of baths that you do at different temperatures.